Apparatus for perforating music-sheets



No. 752,221. PATENTED FEB. 16, 1904. A. L. HART. APPARATUS FOR PERFORATING MUSIC SHEETS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5, 1902.

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A. L. HART.

APPARATUS FOR PERPORATING MUSIC SHEETS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.5,1902.

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PATENT OFFICE.

ALVIN L. HART, OF BURLINGTON, IOWA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 752,221, dated February 16, 1904.

I Application filed August 5, 1902. Serial No. 118,522. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVIN L. HART, a resident of Burlington, in the county of Des Moines and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Perforating Music-Sheets; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improved apparatus for perforating music-sheets, and more particularly to an improved electrically-operated perforating apparatus connected up in circuit with the internal mechanism of a piano, so that performing on the piano will serve to close and break electric circuits to operate perforating mechanism to puncture a music-sheet in such manner that said sheet or copies thereof can be employed with suitable mechanism to reproduce the same piece of music, the object of the invention being -to provide improvements of this character which will be of compartively simple construction and perfect in operation.

A further object is to provide improvements of this character wherein the perforations will be made by burning.

With these objects in view the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, as will be more fully hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view illustrating a piano-action, showing the circuit closing and breaking mechanism. Fig. 2 is an end view of the perforator. Fig. 3 is a view in vertical cross-section. Fig. 4 is a side view. Fig. 5 is a view in horizontal section. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view, and Fig. 7 is a view illustrating a modification.

1 represents the ordinary hammer-operating lever of a piano to which a metal contactpoint 2 is secured and connected by a wire 3 with a battery or other source of electrical supply. A contact arm or finger 4 (one for each action of the piano) is secured to a bar 5 adjacent to the contact 2, and this contact-finger 4 is connected by a wire 7 in circuit with an electric magnet and a battery, which circuit also includes the contact 2, so that when an action of the piano is actuated the engagement of the contacts 2 and 4 will close this circuit to actuate the electromagnet and cause the perforation of a music-sheet, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

It is to be understood that all the actions of the piano are provided with circuit closing and breaking mechanism precisely like that described in connection with one and that two or more perforators, such as hereinafter described, can be connected up in circuit with the piano, so as to perforate a number of music-sheets simultaneously.

The perforating apparatus is supported on a suitable frame comprising end standards 8 and cross-bars 9; but the precise construction of frame is immaterial and may be varied at will. The standards 8 are preferably of a general T shape and support at the respective ends of their horizontal members rollers or drums 10, and suitable mechanism (not shown) is provided for positively driving said rollers to wind a sheet or strip of paper or other material 11 from one roller onto the other and returning the sheet to its former roll when the perforation is completed. The sheet 11 in passing from one roller to the other is drawn between parallel bars 12 or through a slot in a single bar; but I preferably employ two bars with suitable adjusting mechanism to firmly hold the sheet without unduly retarding its movement. These bars 12 are preferably of non-conducting material and are provided with alined perforations 13 to receive plungers 14 to perforate the sheet, as will now be explained. The plungers 14 are disposed vertically and mounted to move in alined openings in guidebars 15, of insulating or non-conducting material, the upper ends of said plungers projecting into the perforations in lower bar 12 and provided with a cap 16, having downwardly and outwardly extending prongs or arms 17, and a glass or other insulating ring or block 18 encompasses the prongs and plunger near its upper end to serve as a stop and limit the upward movement of the plunger. The extreme upper end of cap 16 is provided with a platinum tip, and said cap is so constructed as to compel the current to pass through the platinum tip, so that the latter will become highly heated by the passage of an electric current therethrough and serves to burn the paper when forced thereagainst, and hence comprises a series of thermocauters.

The prongs or arms 17 project into cups or tanks 19, containing mercury, a series of tanks formed on each side of the plungers by dividing long troughs by partitions, the partitions on the opposite troughs being out of alinement and the prongs projecting thereinto and preferably arranged in series, as shown, a constant electric current being passed through the mercury in all of the tanks and through the caps to maintain all of the tips highly heated.

The plungers 1 1 are raised by means of electromagnets 20, connected to the cross-bars 9 by means of insulating-plugs 21. These magnets are arranged in pairs, the diametrically opposite magnets acting together, and they are arranged in two tiers in different horizontal planes, so as to accommodate them all in the comparatively small space allowed for them. The plungers have secured thereto at or near their lower ends bars 22, which terminate in soft-iron armatures 23, located below the cores 24 of magnets 20, so that when the magnets are energized the armatures 23 will be drawn upward to elevate plungers 14 and press the hot platinum tip against the music sheet, thereby burning a hole through the sheet.

The operation of filly improvements is as follows: A constant electric current is passed through all of the platinum tips through the medium of the mercury-tanks and the prongs or arms 17 to maintain the tips always at a high temperature. Now when the performer in playing upon the piano strikes a key electric circuit is closed by means of contact-points 2 and 1 to energize the proper pair of magnets 20, thereby raising plunger 14: and forcing the hot platinum tip against or through the music-sheet, which is being moved at an even speed between bars 12 and traveling from one roller to the other. The tip thus brought into contact with the sheet burns or perforates the same, and the size of the perforation is governed entirely by the length of the note, for the longer the performer maintains the key depressed the longer the circuit is closed to hold the tip in engagement with the sheet, and as the latter is moving longitudinally the perforation will be lengthened according to the time of the closed circuit. hen the circuit is broken by the recovery of the action, the magnets are immediately deenergized, and the plunger 14: will fall to its inoperative position. It will thus be seen that the playing of a piece of music is exactly reproduced on the music-sheet that is to say, the music-sheet will be so perforated that it or copies thereof can be used to exactly reproduce the music as played originally with the aid, of course, of suitable mechanism.

If desired, a numoer of these perforatingmachines can at one time be connected with the piano, so as to be simultaneously operated to perforate music-sheets exactly as played upon the piano.

While I have shown the mercury tanks or receptacles out of alinement to permit the prongs or arms 17 to be immersed in alternate tanks, and thereby convey the current through all of the tanks and tips, I would have it understood that I might construct the tanks as shown in Fig. 7, in which view they are shown connected up in circuit by means of short wires, and various other means may be provided to accomplish the result desired, which is to convey a sufficient constant electric current through all of the tips to maintain them hot enough to burn the music-sheet, and instead of using platinum I might employ other material of high resistance to serve as plunger-tips and burn the sheet.

It will be seen that my improvements are extremely simple in construction and operation, and as the perforating operation is controlled entirely by the performance upon the piano the perforations must be accurate.

A great many slight changes and alterations might be made in the general form and arrangement of parts described without depart- 'ing from my invention, and hence I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction set forth, but consider myself at liberty to make such slight changes and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

I-Iaving fully described my invention what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A music-sheet perforator comprising a sustaining device for a music-sheet, a perforator to enter said device and engage the musicsheet, and means for heating said perforator.

2. The combination with a perforated guide constructed to permit the passage of a sheet through it, of a perforator to enter said perforated guide and engage the sheet passing through it and means for heating said perforator.

3. The combination with aperforated guide and means for passing a sheet through said guide, of a perforator to enter said guide and engage the sheet and electrical means for heating said perforator.

t. The combination with a perforated guide and means for passing a sheet through the same, of electrical devices for heating said perforator and for reciprocating it.

5. A music-sheet-perforating device comprising a sheet-sustaining device, a series of thermocauters to penetrate the sheet as it passes said sustaining device and means for operating said thermocauters.

6. In a music-sheet-perforating device, the combination with the actions of amusical instrument, of a sheet-sustaining device, a series of thermocauters to penetrate said sheet as it passes the sustaining device, and devices controlled by the actions of the piano for operating said thermocauters.

7 A music-sheet perforator comprising a plunger, a platinum tip thereon heated by a current of electricity and electricallycontrolled mechanism to govern the operation of the plunger.

8. A music-sheet perforator, comprising a series of heated plungers to correspond with the keys of a piano, and electromagnets controlled by the piano-action and adapted to operate the plungers to burn holes in the musicsheet.

9. A music-sheet perforator, comprising a series of electrically-heated plungers, means for continuously moving a music-sheet across the path of said plungers but out of engagement therewith, and electromagnets controlled by pianoactions,to move said plungers against the music-sheet.

10. A music-sheet perforator, comprising a series of plungers, platinum tips thereon maintained highly heated by an electric current, means for continuously moving a musicsheet across the path of said plungers but out of engagement therewith, and electromagnets controlled by piano actions, to move said plungers in their proper order, into contact with the music-sheet.

11. A music-sheet perforator, comprising a series of plungers, platinum tips thereon maintained highly heated, means for continuously moving a music-sheet across the path of said plungers but out of engagement therewith, arms on said plungers carrying soft-iron armatures, and electromagnets controlled by piano-actions to attract said armatures and move the plungers in their proper order into engagement with the music-sheet to burn openings in the latter.

12. A music-sheet perforator, comprising a series of plungers, platinum tips thereon, cups containing mercury, prongs or arms in circuit with said tips projecting into the mercury, an electric circuit including said prongs, tips and mercury, a music-sheet, means for moving the same across the path of the plungers, and means controlled by a piano-action, for moving the plungers in their regular order into engagement with the moving music-sheet.

13. In a music-sheet perforator, the combination with a frame, of parallel bars, having alined perforations, rollers on opposite sides of said bars to continuously move a musicsheet between them, and thermocauters controlled by piano actions to perforate said sheet.

14. In a music-sheet perforator, the combination with a piano-action, and contact-points thereon to close and break electric circuit, of mechanism for continuously moving a musicsheet, and electrically-controlled thermocauters moved into engagement with the musicsheet to perforate the same in accordance with the performance upon the piano-action.

15. A music-sheet perforator comprising parallel bars of non-conducting material having alined holes and adapted to lightly engage a sheet passing between them, and means for burning the sheet as it passes over the holes.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

A. L. HART.

Witnesses:

bro. 0. MINTON, EMMA N. MINToN. 

